Combined pedestrian traffic signal and advertising device



. J. S. A COMBINED PEDESTRIAN TRAFFIC SIGNAL AND ADVERTISING DEVICEFiled May 6, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

./'a///\/ a ALZE/V 2- Sheets Sheet 2 .1. s. ALLEN ADVERTISING DEVICECOMBII QED PEDESTRIAN. TRAFFIC SIGNAL A ril 11, 1950 Filed May 6, 1947-Patented Apr. 11, .1950

EDWINED TEDESTRIAN' TRAFFIC SIGNAL AN D ADVERTISING .DEVICE J ohnsS.Allen,.-Montgomery,:Ala.,gassignor tOZThB' Walkolite' Company, :gomery,Ala a corporationof Alabama Application May-c, 1947,"Seria'lNo."74"6,252

55 .Gla-ims. 1

This-invention relates to traffic control systems,

and relates more particularly to improvedfm'eansfor controllingpedestrian traflio and forecoordihating such trafiic with vehicular.trafiic.

An important object-oi ithe'present vinventionu's to provide a novelpedestrian traffic control unit which is mounted in flush relationwithin .the sidewalk curbs at street intersections, and "which isprovided with Stop and 'Go' illuminated signs which are coordinated withthe conven tiona'l automobile trafiic lights and preferably areconnected in the same circut as the latter.

The signal device of the present invention is a self-contained structurecomprising an outer" housing open on one Sula-preferably atwthertop, toreceive an inner housingcontainingthe'illumi nated signs and otheroperative parts :including. the usual transformer for the neon tubes.The

inner housing is a sealed unit which is locked:

within the housing by 'novel means, Lth'e upper wall of such innerhousing preferably :being formed of transparent plastic materialthrough,

which the signs .are visible, 2. substantiallys'fmilar wall and signsbeing provided :on. th'e iront of such inner housing.Thus,.=a:pedestrian/standing on'the curb has two visible signs.tmguidehim, one of which is horizontally .d sposed'whichihe' sees bylooking downwardly, andlthexotherpvertically disposed and locateddirectlyzacross :the street whichhe is about to travel:over.

The device of" the present invention also lends itself to a particularlynovel advertising arrange.- ment.

Another object of "the"presentiinventioniiis 'to provide mprovedpedestrian trafilc control means which will greatly reduce the accidenttoll at street intersections since'the elements .of chance and confusionare definitely eliminated. Vehicular trafiic lights must of necessity beplaced in a position most suitable to the motorist, and-in mostinstances this position is. most' unsuited::to the needs of the personon foot. The structure of the present invention will provide everyinducement to keep the person on. the sidewalk until the light changes,will impress the pedestr'an with his part in traflic safety, and is adefinite aid to near-sighted orcolor-blindpedestrians. Moreover, it willspeedup car trafiic'and reduce the need for the policing ofintersections.

By mounting the complete unit inrecessedrelation w thin the curb thereis no obstruction to normal pedestriantravel. Also, it illuminates the:curb at night and hence reduces pedestrian 'in uries.

In the drawings:

front vertical wall L5.

mon "to "both tubes;

Incorporated, Mont- I.:Eig.: Lil's-a 'perspective viewroflaistreet"lntersec= tion showingtwo 30f. the:signaling deviceslinstalled inrecessed relation iwithinitheicurbing'. 1

Fig.2 :isa bottom: plan :view .of a locking plate for securing the innerhousing within thesouter housing.

Fig.3 is a perspective'viewznf theiinner-Ihousing. .Fig. 4 is:azperspective View ofcth'e' outer'thousin'g' and Lthe locking plateshownin'Fig. 2.'

Fig. 5 .isa .frontielev'ation o'fithe :opaque plate containingtranslucent letters ifor. advertising purposes.

. Fig. .& 6i iszia ltopcplanrview thereof'.

Fig. is a broken:sect-ion'itaken ion-line. T l- 1- 0f'Fig. l1.

Fig. 8 "is a top'rplanfview or :the-complete= unit with the upper walland the locking. plate removed.

Fig. 1 9. is azitransversetisectionitaken ronline i9- -9 oflFigul.

An embodiment (of the invention includes an inner housing I 0 and ranouterhousing H The inner housing is formed with-a lower wall 12, endwalls t3 and 14,:front an'd'rear sidewalls l 5 and LliB, respectively,and an upper wall "20 of slightly larger dimensions than the lower wall;thus providing afflange I 9 extendingaround'such upperwall. walls-'liiand 20=are desirably'formed from clear,"itransparent orwtranslucentplastic material; anditheremaining walls may' be: opaque andibeforme'd-tof. metal, plastic, or other suitable material. A'suitableelectrical plugLZl mounted inx'en'd wall l.5, and the-inner'ih'ousingmayotherwise beatsealed unit.

Within the housing are one or more transformers 22 and a plurality'ofsuperimposed neon tubes spelling "out the words 'of warning, etc. Inthe arrangement :-shown,t-there vis tuloe-dn for the word Go.-and tube2'4.--for"the Word' Stop?, both. horizontally disposed and visible whenlighted, .as indicated in. Figs. .1. and through .There is. further tube2.5. for the. word Walk andlt'ube r2t for the word "Wait. The letters 'W.and A may becomwhen lightedythroug'h upper'hori'zontal wall12'0. Asuitable circuit (not shown) is arranged to alternatelylight the Go andWalk tubesand' theStop' and Wait tubes. As'was'earlier pointed out, thissystemmay b'e'operated by the same timing mechanism as is'employedfontlre stop and Go-automobile traffic lights.

For the purpose of separating the front vertical ':tubes' 23 and 24 fromthe upper hcrizontal tuhesazt sand 226,:antang1i1arbaifie platecIElg'.

These tubes are visible,

is employed, such plate having a base portion 30, horizontal portions 3|and 32, and vertical portions 33 and 34. Such bafile plate effectivelyshields the tubes in one area from those in the second area. In additionto the foregoing tubes, there are horizontal tubes 35 which are arrangedto be continuously illuminated when the device is in operation forilluminating the advertising signs.

The outer housing comprises a lower wall 39, an end wall 40, a frontwall 4| having openings 42 and 43 therein, a rear wall 44 and anopposite end wall 45. There is further provided an extension 46associated with end wall 45. The outer housing is arranged to bepermanently mounted within an opening 50 within the curb I. A recess 62extends around the three sides of the opening adjacent the upper surface63 of the curb. The

front wall 4| of the outer housing is substantially flush with thevertical'wall 5| of the curb and recess 52 is of such size as to receiveupper transparent or translucent wall 20 of the inner housing, theflanges l9 extending around three sides of such upper wall beingdisposed withi'n'such recesses.

For the purpose of locking the inner housing within the outer housing,end wall H! of the former is provided with a key 56 which is receivedwithin an opening 51 in end wall 40 of the outer housing. After theinner housing is mounted in place within the outer housing it is lockedat its opposite end by means of locking plate 60 shown in detail inFig.2. This locking plate is provided on its lower surface with acircular operating disc 6| which is arranged to be rotated by means of ascrew 62 extending to the upper surface of such plate.

Locking bolts 64 are pivotally secured at, their inner ends, as shown at65, around the periphery of disc 6|. slide, confine movement of theouter terminals of these bolts to substantially straight-linereciprocating movement. End wall l3 of the inner housing is providedwith an opening for one of such bolts, and there are further providedsimilar openings 12 in the extension 46 of the outer housing. Thus,after the inner housing is in place within the outer housing with key 56inserted within opening 51, locking plate 60 is inserted in place andthe bolts 64 are actuated to move outwardly into their respectiveopenings. End wall 46 of the extension of the outer housing is providedwith an opening 13 through which the electrical cable (not shown) maypass to plug 2|.

: It was earlier pointed out that the inner housing is provided withhorizontal tubes 35 for illuminating the advertising signs. These signsare shown in Figs. 5 and 6, and may comprise a plate of opaque plasticmaterial having formed therein letters 16 of translucent or somewhattransparent plastic material. Thus, the neon tubes behind such plateilluminate the trans, lucent letters. Plate 15 may be mounted withinopening 43by means of angle brackets 71 secured, as by means of pin 18,to such plate. These angle brackets have rearward extensions which aredisposed behind side wall 4|. The traffic control device of the presentinvention lends itself to novel advertising arrangements in that thewords Stop and Go may be followed by the word For which in turn isfollowed by some well known trade-mark. Thus, in the arrangement shownin the drawing the letters 16 on plate 15 Guides 61, within which thebolts 4' spell out the words "For Clix," which is offered by way ofillustration only.

While one form or embodiment of the invention has been shown anddescribed herein for illustrative purposes, and the construction andarrangement incidental to a specific application thereof have beendisclosed and discussed in detail, it is to be understood that theinvention is limited neither to the mere details or relative arrangementof parts, nor to its specific embodiment shown herein, but thatextensive deviations from the illustrated form or embodiment of theinvention may be made without departing from the principles thereof.

What I claim is:

1. A pedestrian traffic control device comprising an inner and an outerhousing, the latter arranged to be received in recessed, substantiallyflush relation within a sidewalk curb, the

inner housing being provided with translucent top and front walls, achangeable sign disposed adjacent such top wall and such front wall andarranged to be visible to a pedestrian standing adjacent one of saidwalls, a partition disposed between the top wall sign and the front wallsign, and means for interlocking the housings.

2. A pedestrian trafllc control device comprising an inner and an outerhousing, the latter arranged to be received in recessed, substantiallyflush relation within a sidewalk curb, the inner housing being providedwith translucent top and front walls, changeable signs disposed adjacentsuch walls and arranged to be visible to a pedestrian standing adjacentone of said walls, a partition disposed between the top wall signs andthe front wall signs, and means for locking the inner housing within theouter housin comprising a locking plate provided with a plurality oflocking bolts, the housings having recesses for receiving such lockingbolts when in extended position.

3. A pedestrian traffic control device comprising an inner housing andan outer housing which is open at the top, such outer housing beingarranged to be received in recessed, substantially flush relation withina sidewalk curb, the inner housing being a sealed unit which is providedwith translucent front and top walls, the latter being substantiallyflush with the sidewalk level of the curb, changeable signs disposedadjacent such top and front walls and arranged to be visible to apedestrian standing adjacent one of said walls, means for shielding thetop wall sign from the front wall sign, and means for locking the innerhousing within the outer housing.

4. A pedestrian trafiic control device comprising an inner and an outerhousing, the latter being open at its top and arranged to be receivedand secrred with'n a recess in a sidewalk curb or the like, the frontwall being substantially flush with the vertical wall of such curb, SlChouter housing being provided with an extension at one end thereof whichis formed with an opening for an electrical connect'on, the innerhousing being provid d with translucent front and top walls,

for receiving such locking bolts when the latter are in locked position.

5. A combined pedestrian traflic control and advertising sign arrangedto be received in substantially flush relation within a recess in asidewalk curb, and comprising inner and outer housings, the former beingprovided with translucent front and top walls, such latter wall beingsubstantially flush with the sidewalk level, changeable illuminatedtrafilc signs disposed adjacent said front wall and said top wall in onesection of the inner housing and a partition disposed between suchsigns, an advertising sign in another section of said housing, means forilluminating such sign, means for securing the outer housing within saidcurb recess, and locking means for securing the inner housing within theouter housing.

6. A combined pedestrian traffic control and advertising sign arrangedto be received in substantially flush relation within a recess in a sidewalk curb, and comprising inner and outer housings, the former beingprovided with translucent front and top walls and forming .a sealed unitwhich is impervious to moisture, such latter wall being substantiallyflush with said sidewalk,

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 682,117 Sayre Sept. 3, 19011,051,354 Strachan Jan. 21, 1913 r 1,963,293 Collins June 19, 19341,965,874 Appold July 10, 1934 2,280,010 Smith Apr. 14, 1942- FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 11,906 Great Britain May 14, 1914

